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All About History: Book of the First World War PDF

180 Pages·2016·35.51 MB·English
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E (cid:109) (cid:205)(cid:205) M (cid:49) (cid:48) M (cid:31) O (cid:35) S (cid:55) (cid:205) (cid:14) (cid:14) (cid:15) (cid:205) (cid:109) BOOK OF THE There is no doubt that the First World War shaped the world in which we live today. There are those who believe the First World War should never have happened, those who feel it was absolutely necessary and those by whom it is quietly remembered. Few remain untouched by its memory. Given the number of countries involved and the unimaginable loss of life, such a long-lasting impact was inevitable. In fact, today we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme with this brand new edition. We will explore the First World War through key events, signifi cant battles and infl uential fi gures, while discovering the knock-on effect to everyday life on the Home Front. The words and images are accompanied by historical artefacts that will paint a picture of what life was like during the First World War – both at home and on the front line. BOOK OF THE Imagine Publishing Ltd Richmond House 33 Richmond Hill Bournemouth Dorset BH2 6EZ (cid:8) +44 (0) 1202 586200 Website: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk Twitter: @Books_Imagine Facebook: www.facebook.com/ImagineBookazines Publishing Director Aaron Asadi Head of Design Ross Andrews Production Editor Fiona Hudson Written by Gary Sheffield Senior Art Editor Greg Whitaker Designer Perry Wardell-Wicks Printed by William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT Distributed in the UK, Eire & the Rest of the World by Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU Tel 0203 787 9060 www.marketforce.co.uk Distributed in Australia by Gordon & Gotch Australia Pty Ltd, 26 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest, NSW, 2086 Australia Tel +61 2 9972 8800 www.gordongotch.com.au Disclaimer The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this bookazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the bookazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This bookazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. This bookazine is published under licence from Carlton Publishing Group Limited. All rights in the licensed material belong to Carlton Publishing Limited and it may not be reproduced, whether in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Carlton Publishing Limited. ©2016 Carlton Publishing Limited. Text copyright: Gary Sheffield The content in this book appeared previously in the Carlton book The First World War Remembered All About History Book Of The First World War Third Edition © 2016 Imagine Publishing Ltd Part of the bookazine series MAP KEY Common symbols used on maps in this book NATIONAL COLOURS British, Dominion & Empire French Belgian German American SIZE OF MILITARY UNITS XXXX XXX XX Army Corps Division X III II Brigade Regiment Battalion MILITARY TYPES Infantry Tanks Cavalry MILITARY SYMBOLS XXXXX Army group boundary line XXXX Army boundary line XXX Corps boundary line XX Division boundary line Troops attacking Unsuccessful attack Planned withdrawal 6 SEE EXHIBIT SECTIONS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................8 LITERARY INFLUENCES ....................................94 SLIDE TOWARDS CONFLICT ..............................10 THE DIPLOMACY OF WAR .................................96 MOBILIZATION ......................................................12 THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME ...........................98 BATTLE OF THE FRONTIERS .............................14 THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME .........................100 MONS AND LE CATEAU ........................................16 FRENCH CHANGE OF COMMAND ..................116 THE MARNE AND THE AISNE ............................18 THE BATTLE OF ARRAS ....................................118 THE BATTLE OF TANNENBERG ........................22 THE NIVELLE OFFENSIVE ................................120 THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES ...........................26 THE BATTLE OF MESSINES ..............................122 THE WAR AGAINST TURKEY .............................28 REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA ...................................124 WAR IN AFRICA .....................................................32 THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES .......................126 THE WAR AT SEA ..................................................46 PASSCHENDAELE ................................................128 1915 SPRING OFFENSIVES .................................48 TRENCH LIFE ........................................................130 THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES .....................50 LOCAL ACTIONS ..................................................134 EASTERN FRONT BATTLES ................................52 THE BATTLE OF CAMBRAI ...............................136 TOTAL WAR .............................................................54 GERMAN SPRING OFFENSIVE ........................138 AUTUMN 1915 BATTLES ......................................56 GERMAN SPRING OFFENSIVE .......................140 BRITISH COMMAND .............................................58 THE WAR IN THE AIR .........................................142 THE SALONIKA CAMPAIGN ..............................60 SECOND BATTLE OF THE MARNE ..................156 THE BATTLE OF VERDUN ..................................70 HAMEL AND AMIENS .........................................158 THE BATTLE OF VERDUN ...................................72 SPECIALISTS ........................................................160 IRELAND ..................................................................74 ALLIES ON THE ADVANCE ................................162 CAMPAIGNS IN MESOPOTAMIA .......................76 THE USA ENTERS THE WAR ............................164 THE ITALIAN FRONT ............................................78 THE AMERICAN OFFENSIVES .........................166 THE EASTERN FRONT ........................................80 THE GRAND OFFENSIVE ...................................168 THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND .................................82 THE FINAL BATTLES ..........................................172 CAMPAIGNS IN PALESTINE ..............................84 AFTERMATH AND LEGACY ..............................174 BATTLES IN ITALY................................................86 WAR IN THE ATLANTIC ......................................88 EMPIRES AT WAR .................................................90 THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN WAR..........................92 BIBLIOGRAPHY & CREDITS .............................178 7 The First World War INTRODUCTION T he single event that more than any other can be said to have French meddling in the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. German Nazism, shaped the world we live in is the First World War. The Second Italian Fascism and Soviet Communism were all by-products of the World War grew out of the First. It was not a “given” that a second First World War. great war would occur, but there was sufficient unfinished business from The generals of the war still excite passionate debates, with 1914–18 to make it likely. The global spread of the First World War was individuals lined up for and against. Haig and Pétain remain such that almost no part was left untouched, either directly or indirectly. controversial figures, although for very different reasons; and The resources of great empires were mobilized to fight a total war. Soldiers historians still debate the merits of Conrad, Foch, French, Pershing, came from tropical North Queensland and West Africa to fight for Britain Brusilov, Kemel, Joffre, Currie and Monash as commanders. But and France against Germany in Belgium. Labourers from South Africa, increasingly the ordinary soldier has taken centre stage. And we China and Vietnam were sent to work on the Western Front. Men from the should not forget the civilians – women, older men, and children – far reaches of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires battled each whose support for the war was critical. As historians are increasingly other in the Carpathians. realizing, home front and battle front were closely intertwined. The war continues to affect us. In Britain, opinion is sharply polarized This book enables us to explore the First World War through text, between those who see the war as a monstrous tragedy which should pictures and memorabilia. I hope that it gives readers some idea of the never have happened, and those who agree it was a tragedy but say that it issues at stake, the strategies, tactics and battles, and the lives of the was not of Britain’s making and Britain had no choice but to get involved. people who were there. From a French or German perspective it can be seen as the second round GARY SHEFFIELD, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM in a Franco-German war that began in 1870 and only ended in 1945. An American might view it as the moment when the USA finally stepped onto March 2014 the world stage; an Australian, New Zealander or Canadian as the time when their nations began to emerge from under the protective wing of OPPOSITE: Soldiers from 2nd Special Regiment at the Guet Post in the frontline trenches in front of the mother country. Citizens of states such as Poland, the Czech Republic L a Pompelle in 1916. and Latvia can look back to 1914–18 as the beginning of, in some cases an BELOW: Canadian troops guard German prisoners extremely prolonged, process of achieving national self determination. The as they use a stretcher and a light railway truck to transport wounded soldiers to get medical powder keg that is the modern Middle East has its origins in British and attention, Vimy Ridge, April 1917. 8 The First World War SLIDE TOWARDS CONFLICT SUN 28 JUN 1914 – TUE 04 AUG 1914 The origins of the war T he events that plunged Europe into war 1870–71 had destroyed the existing international in 1914 moved with speed. On 28 June, balance of power. But Germany, despite its ever Otto von Bismarck Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria- increasing economic power, chose, under the (1815–98) Hungary was assassinated by a young Serb, leadership of the “Iron Chancellor”, Otto von Gavrilo Princip. A month later, Austria declared Bismarck, to live within the new situation it had war on Serbia, which Vienna blamed for the created, and to avoid threatening its neighbours, murder, and by 5 August the major states of while keeping France isolated. All this changed Europe were at war. The immediate trigger for when the young and mentally unbalanced the First World War was thus rivalry between Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the throne in 1888. states in the Balkans. Russia backed Serbia, the In 1890 Wilhelm dismissed Bismarck, and latter state posing as the protector of the Serbs the system of treaties that the Chancellor had in the polyglot Habsburg Empire. Austria risked carefully constructed to protect Germany began war with Russia to preserve its infl uence in the to unravel. Wilhelm’s bellicose Weltpolitik Balkans, having received on 5 July a promise of (world policy) led to diplomatic encirclement, Bismarck was instrumental in uniting the support from its ally Germany. Russia, alarmed having thoroughly frightened Britain, France disparate German states into an empire under the by the threat to its security and prestige, and Russia. The British government abandoned leadership of Prussia. He used a series of wars mobilized its forces, followed by Germany its policy of non-alignment and established an against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870–71) to establish the new state, with the King and then France, Russia’s ally since 1892. The Entente – although not a formal alliance – with of Prussia being proclaimed as Kaiser (Emperor) German attack on Belgium on 4 August brought France and Russia in 1904. Wilhelm I in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles in Britain into the war. In retrospect, the war By 1914, Germany had backed itself into a 1871. Bismarck’s subtle diplomatic skills, which seemed to many to be almost accidental, with corner. Many historians agree Germany took played a large part in keeping Europe at peace in states slipping into an unwanted confl ict. the last quarter of the nineteenth century, were BELOW: Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie are However, there were wider issues at play. photographed getting into a car just minutes before missed after his dismissal by Wilhelm II in 1890. The German defeat of Napoleon III’s France in their murder by Gavrilo Princip (inset left). ABOVE MIDDLE: Napoleon III led France to a humiliating defeat by Germany in 1870–71. Desire for revenge was a factor in 1914. ABOVE: Admiral von Tirpitz masterminded the creation of the fleet that turned Germany into a great naval power but alarmed the British. 10

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The First World War shaped the world in which we live today. The number of countries that were involved made it impossible to not have a long-lasting effect, whether negative or positive. There are those who believe it should never have happened, those who feel it was absolutely necessary, those by
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